The car rationing scheme had come in for a scathing attack in Parliament on Monday with several MPs alleging that it would “generate corruption” and was aimed at “insulting” lawmakers as they sought exemption from the scheme to attend Parliament.

Raising the issue during zero hour in the Lok Sabha, Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, contended that the scheme would not help CNG companies and companies manufacturing buses and cars and would hardly reduce pollution.

He said Kejriwal had introduced the scheme to gain “cheap popularity”.

Citing an Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur study, he said the pollution from cars was a mere five per cent and the Delhi government had failed to address other issues which contribute to the remaining 95% of pollution.

While this was strongly contested by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Bhagwant Mann, some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members were seen supporting Ranjan’s plea.

In the Rajya Sabha, Naresh Agrawal from the Samajwadi Party made a strong pitch for exempting MPs from the scheme as has been done for some other sections, a view that found resonance among most of parties as well as Deputy Chairman of the House P J Kurien.

Going hammer and tongs against the Delhi government over the move, Agrawal alleged it was done to “insult” the MPs and wondered why the Centre was “silent” on the issue.

Congress member Rajiv Shukla said MPs should be “exempted” from the scheme.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma backed the views saying the scheme was coming in the way of discharging their duties.

Kurien also supported the sentiment, noting that the government's duty was to help MPs discharge their duty in Parliament and asked why the Parliamentary Affairs Minister did not take up the matter with the Delhi government.

The second phase of the scheme began on April 15 and will go on till April 30.